The prince was going from room to room throughout the house. “Maybe that should be goodbye, goodbye,” he corrected himself.

He had looked in every room. He’d even taken a second look in the rooms where she spent most of her time. He couldn’t find her anywhere.

“Oh, well,” he said, shrugging. He put on his coat, a tailored black overcoat, very stylish. He guessed there was nothing left to do but leave. It felt strange to leave after eight years without saying goodbye. He could write a note but that seemed so impersonal.

He heard the front door open. “Oh, there you are,” he said, almost shouting with relief.

She was so startled by the sound of his voice that she jumped and dropped her packages. There were a lot of packages. “What? Why, you scared the living daylights out of me. Why did you do that?” she said, scrambling to recover her composure and her packages.

“Well, I just wanted to say goodbye. I’m leaving now.” Seeing her now, her characteristic befuddlement, seeing the charming bundle of contradictions that she was, he felt an unexpected fondness for her.

“Goodbye now?” she snorted. “I thought you’d left months ago.” Her sharp tongue, also characteristic, brought an end to the sentimental moment.

Still, he followed her as she hurried up the stairs. He even extended his hand to take some of the packages to lighten her load.

“I just thought we should say goodbye in person,” he said.

She had been thinking about whether there was enough time for the wrinkles to fall out of her gown. Maybe she should hang it in the bathroom so the humidity from the shower would help, but then that might do something weird to the delicate fabric. She hadn’t really been paying attention to him. But something about the way he said “say goodbye in person” made her stop and look at him.

He looked at her. She had never understood him, he thought. Then maybe he had never understood her either.

“We had some good times,” he said. “It wasn’t all angst and antagonism.”

She really wanted to make sure all of her outfits were together, but she was not a cruel city. Difficult, demanding, heartbreaking sometimes, but not cruel. She could take a few minutes if he needed it.

“That’s true, it wasn’t all bad, ” she said, sitting in a chair and motioning for him to have a seat. “Remember those first days. Remember those inaugural events at the museum and those cool neighborhood meetings, right there during the celebrations?”

“That was a special night,” he said.

“You know, I even remember there was a strange, inexplicable trail of light in the sky that night, like the tail of a shooting star except it lasted for maybe 30 minutes. I thought it was the sign of such promise ahead.”

He didn’t say anything. After a long silence, she spoke.

“So what happened?” she asked.

“A lot happened,” he said. “Look at all these buildings, all over Jack London Square. Already built, housing thousands. Everywhere you look. You can’t find a corner in downtown Oakland that isn’t being dug up for a major construction site. I’ve brought thousands of people here.”

“And they still have to go to Emeryville to shop. What about the neighborhoods? What about the Oakland Ballet? What about the Oakland A’s?” she said, feeling herself getting worked up. She hadn’t stopped her party preparations to rehash their habitual differences. That’s why they had stopped talking. Every discussion ended in the same litany of disappointments and betrayals.

“A lot of it was good,” he said, stubbornly.

“It could have been worse,” she said.

He had come to know her well enough to know that was probably the best endorsement he was going to get. He fought back an urge to say something about “this new guy.”

“I’ll tell you one thing,” he said, “being the state’s top cop is going to be a walk in the park by comparison.” They shared a long laugh.

Toxins released by the algae have poisoned dolphins, manatees, tons of fish and even contributed to the death of a 26-foot-long whale shark. The deluge of dead and rotting wildlife strewn across beaches has threatened to upturn the vital Florida tourist season